Thursday, June 30, 2005

To understand how the Bush administration has lost the public opinion war on Iraq, it may be helpful to travel in H.G. Wells' time machine back to Oct. 30, 1938. The subversion of reality that Welles slyly introduced into modern American media in 1938 has reached its culmination and a jaded public is at last in open revolt.

The boundary between reality and fiction has now been blurred to such an extent by show business, the news business and government alike that almost no shows produced by any of them are instantly accepted as truth. The market for fake news has become so oversaturated that a skeptical public is finally dismissing most of it as hooey until proven otherwise.

Politicians who dive into this game by putting on their own reality shows think they are being very clever. But like Cruise, they're being busted by a backlash.

George W. Bush, -with the help of Colin Powell and some nifty props, effortlessly sold the country on Saddam WMDs. He got away with using a stunt turkey as the photo-op centerpiece during his surprise Thanksgiving 2003 visit to the troops in Iraq. His canned "Ask the President" campaign town-hall meetings -- at which any potentially hostile questioner was denied admittance or hustled out by goons -- were slick enough to be paraded before unsuspecting viewers as actual news on local TV outlets, in the tradition of Welles' "War of the Worlds" bulletins.

But the old magic is going kaput. Bush's 60-stop Social Security "presidential road show," his latest round of pre-scripted and heavily rehearsed faux town-hall meetings, hasn't repeated the success of "Ask the President." Support for private Social Security accounts actually declined as the tour played out and Bush increasingly sounded as if he were protesting too much.

The shelf life of the fakery that sold the war has also expired. On June 7, a Washington Post/ABC News poll found for the first time that a majority of Americans believe the war in Iraq has not made the United States safer. A week later Gallup found that a clear majority (59 percent) wants to withdraw some or all U.S. troops. Most Americans tell pollsters the war isn't "worth it," and the top reasons they cite, said USA Today, include "fraudulent claims and no weapons of mass destruction found" and "the belief that Iraq posed no threat to the United States."

Nor can it easily get the country to believe that success in Iraq is just around the corner. Too many still remember that marvelous aircraft-carrier spectacle marking the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq -- a fake reality show adapted, no less, from a Tom Cruise classic, "Top Gun." Some 25 months and 1,700 American deaths later, nothing short of a collaboration by Orson Welles and Steven Spielberg could make this war fly in America now.

10 Comments:

i like watch tv said...

Mee love joorge boosh he is man of trooth and justis. :Dick" Chany and him save us fomm bad peeple like obomba Ben laden it is not illoozhin dat tv puts out but trooth of bad terrorests who myte get you! Dont talk bad abot dese grate peeple dey r alwaze tell the trooth and are atackd by dum librels hoo dont watch FOX NOoZe! Yoo want get trooth look at tv inter net is all lyes and miths TV is sourse of of credebil newz I watch it and lern fom it all time Shawn handidy is all correct about how pre- Irock war war plan are only conspeericy Theery on inter-net. He is sexy man who loves freedum and wee can trust him on things he saas. Rice is also good on toast and her ideea's on foren polacee are keep AMERIKA safer from bad arabs. 911 was dun by sodom hoosane peepel hoo wer linked to him in areplanes and dese peepel in politics are keep us safe from them beleeve things on tv It wil make you smart and informed about wats going on ,dont beleeve any thing on inter-netwatch TV and lern abot how trooth is come from dem/

This situation is playing right into to the hands of shills like Chomsky and Goodman. The champions of the 911 Blow Back "theory". With all those well publicized lies, the unjustified agression and mass murder it is Blow Back time once again.

And the cycle of staged false flag terror events and wars of genocide will continue.

goodman and Chompsky are like bad librels hoo r dum and hayte amerika but thay are ryte just like shawn handity is to! Conspeeracy swood not work too many peeple involved they wood not get away with it somewon wood talk and it wood be on my Tv and and chompsky is ryte with goodman and the left is ryte abowt kennedy he wus just like capalists and their wus no reezun for govermant peeple too kill him just like how tv and leftwing r ryte abowt obomba ben laden and sodom hoosane being with those peeple on are-planes flone intoo buldings! I have too go now my false teath hurt from the Tv raydeeayshun and I wan't too get up erlie to see FOX NoOze wen the big red ball cums over the trees at 9 oclock! [[-kp?<

My name is I love watch tv and you R just jelus I know about deze things like Irock war! joorge Boosh needs r siport too fyte the insirjents in that land just like those hoo atacked us in 9;11. If we stop now thay wil come back and thay wil get you somehow! thay R just like us Plane peeple- duck-hunting with judjes Scullia and seeing NAscar and sports on tv.. I am smart from wat thay tel me on the tv andknow that Booosh and Chany luv america to keep it safe from doze peeple hoo where rags on their heads and a fyre burning in the harts of men hoo luv freedum jut like boosh say on my TV and i have a decal on my car that sho's I luv Boosh and siport the troops;

Yoo can see hee has god on his side- He iz prezadent and cood not bee there if > tHE man above did knot wan't him their! - and we R bring democricy too those peeple over in desirt land's and stop bad men like hoosane hoo hayte freedum: And :dick" Chany makes money for his frend Haley Burton wich helps amerika stay free frum deze bad peepul. I know abowt this I lisen to SHAwn Handidy wile i drive my pik-up truk and eet a banana? "@ E

I like watch tv - has maid gude points - he nowes hes stiff and hannity is impressive - thnks be to the grait leedurs who kep us saif. NPR iz aslu good and fundeed by the pepul so yu can beleeve what they sez 2.

Mee knot Boosh, that seams to be wat you are saying - but I try too bee like him and be good cristyen and bee good Amerikan and be vijilint so I can doo things like play with my ball with owt teror in my mynd and keep the wirld sayfe from doze hoo hayte are freedum. Hee surve r cuntrie in nashunal gard and hee help keep us free den and hee land on dat ship that says mishun acomplished like i sean on my tv. + doze memo'z that Dan BLather put on my tv and all tvee's in U.S. were fayked and wee no he is man who luvs dis cuntry cos he sayd so abowt how they never stop thinking of new wayz too harm R cuntry and peepul and neether doo him and:"Dick Chany _ _ I put dis thing down now and go back too lern moor abowt the things in Irock on my TV dinner is reddy with corn wee get becos wee R free and Al Zarcowee is over there and hee is cant get us cos day R mayking us sayfe( .